Volume 4: The Swiss Years: Writings 1912-1914
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EINSTEIN'S MANUSCRIPT ON THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY I Einstein's review of electrodynamics and of what would later be called the "special" theory of relativity was probably written between 1912 and 1914. It was written for the Handbuch der Radiologie, edited by Erich Marx,[1] but remained unpublished. After the First World War had caused a delay in the publication of the handbook, Einstein was unwilling to revise his manuscript for publication at a later date. The first section of the manuscript expounds H. A. Lorentz's electron theory, while the subsequent sections are dedicated to a systematic presentation of special relativity, including its historical, conceptual, and empirical background. Throughout the manu- script Einstein systematically uses the four-dimensional formulation of relativity. The manuscript ends with a brief discussion of relativistic hydrodynamics.[2] The material presented in the manuscript is largely taken from Einstein's own earlier work as well as from the recent studies of Hermann Minkowski, Arnold Sommerfeld, and Max Laue. Einstein's introduction to vector and tensor calculus goes beyond standard texts and resembles the presentation of a generalized tensor calculus in the mathematical section of Einstein and Grossmann 1913 (Doc. 13). II At the beginning of 1911 the publishing house Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft in Leipzig decided to publish a handbook of radiation physics (Handbuch der Radio- physik) in several volumes, with eminent contemporary scholars as authors.[3] In the foreword to the first volume, Marx, the editor of the handbook, defined the goal of the publication as follows: "In each volume individual articles constituting indepen- dent monographs should also in their entirety form a self-contained textbook."[4] Marx also instructed the authors "that monographs should be appropriately detailed, and I requested that historical aspects be given their due."[5] [1]Some time after the manuscript was submitted, it was given the title "The Special Theory of Relativity" ("Spezielle Relativitätstheorie"), either by Erich Marx or by Einstein himself (see Erich Marx to Einstein, 3 March 1922). [2]Einstein's course on electricity and magnetism in winter semester 1913/1914 comprised a similar introductory treatment of the theory of relativity; for a summary of this course on the basis of student notes, see Appendix A. [3]See Erich Marx to H. A. Lorentz, 25 February 1911 (NeHR, Archief H. A. Lorentz). [4] "In selbständigen Monografien sollen die Einzelbearbeitungen in jedem Band ein auch als Lehrbuch abgeschlossenes Ganzes bilden" (Marx 1920, p. V). [5]"dass die Monografien ihrem Character nach ausführlich sein müssen, und ich bat, auch das Historische nicht zu kurz zu fassen" (Erich Marx to H. A. Lorentz, 13 October 1911 [NeHR, Archief H. A. Lorentz]).